You can also discuss your general health and have your urine, weight, cholesterol and blood pressure checked.

Some local hospitals also run well woman clinics. To use these, you don't need a referral from your GP, and an appointment isn't always needed. Ring your GP surgery for information.

If neither your GP surgery nor local hospital runs a well woman clinic, many practice nurses are able to give breast awareness advice, do cervical smears, and provide information and advice on contraception and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

There are also private health organisations that run well woman clinics, carrying out extensive health checks for women for a fee. You can find details of these in your local phone book or online.